Torchbearer
#114 of Against All Odds Universe
Hey there,
Outside of my usual story writing, I've also been working on the backstory for a character that I've been playing as part of an online Pathfinder game (A tabletop RPG, if you're not familiar with it). That character is a Champion named Blake that I decided to make badger-shaped (because, honestly, why not?).
As part of that work, I had an idea that I figured might make a fun crossover story between that game and some of my characters from the Against all Odds universe, with the equally badger-shaped Tomas and Jiri quickly revealing themselves as the perfect match. I figured I'd post that resulting story here for anyone that might enjoy checking it out.
As always, I hope you enjoy, and thanks in advance for reading!
_ Torchbearer _
Blake sank to his knees, placing a paw to his battle-felled brother's chest. The pain-stricken grunt it drew threatened to pierce his own.
Blood oozed between his fingers. Drenched his palm.
He recited a silent prayer for any and all gods that might listen.
Gods that had surely abandoned them long before this day.
The broad badger knight breathed in, dropping his battle hammer to a wooden floor littered with the debris of a stranger's former life. What light remained in the smoky skies seeped in through the window, casting this abandoned home in a veil of gloom. One that would be lifted upon Blake's exhale.
A heavenly glow radiated from his paw, finding all four stone walls.
He set his teeth, closed his eyes, and used all the strength he had left within himself to cradle and comfort his younger brother amid the apocalypse.
"Be healed by the blessings of the Light, Dax."
Outside, chaos and carnage continued. The voices of their fellow badgerkin roared, hardy and strong, rising above the cacophony of clanking swords, pummelling maces and clattering shields. War raged on, resting for naught. The village, the region, hung so perilously in the balance. But not there, not then within that one silent home.
A home fled by its owners before the undead came.
A home offering what refuge it could to those two souls so intrinsically entwined.
The light from Blake's palm receded. Around him, the room fell back to its former gloom. He lifted his paw away, sweeping a few long strands of black and white headfur from his eyes. For the briefest of moments, he had hope.
But in times like those, hope could never not be misplaced.
Daxten remained near lifeless in his elder brother's arms, wounds soaking his torn woollen gambeson so that it was more red than yellow.
Desperation struck Blake so hard that he so nearly crumbled. Medicine had failed them, as had the Light.
But more could be done, of that Blake begged to be certain.
He tugged away at his brother's fragile torso, freeing it from so much broken armour, wool and chain mail alike. That only exposed the cruellest truth hidden beneath.
Daxten's chest and stomach had been ripped and slashed, mangled with deep wounds and gashes that stretched the breadth of him. Blood had matted his black fur, stained white into horrifying red, pouring down all over the arm that cradled him in the corner of that foreign home they'd retreated to.
"We'll be okay," Blake insisted.
His wavering voice betrayed them both.
"We'll... We _will_get out of here."
Daxten didn't respond, breathing so shallow, half awake, half aware, a grim trickle of crimson seeping from his open mouth. Only then did the younger badger reply.
"...Brother-"
"Hold on." Blake held him tight, easing his kin down towards the floorboards with all the care in the world. "T-There may be some healing tools here. Something we haven't tri-"
"Blake," Daxten snapped with as much force as he could muster.
That force fast faded, leaving just a ghostly echo of the bold, confident voice so familiar to Blake.
"Please... sit with me... for a little while."
The older brother heeded those words, denying the floor and securing Daxten within his cradling hold. The bloodied paw that had glowed so brightly before simply lifted to the younger badger's head, stroking a muddy mess of headfur barely held in place by a patterned headband.
"Don't be nervous, brother..."
Daxten tried to smile. It fell instead to pained, snout-twisting groans.
"...I am not afraid of death."
The unstoppable tide of battle raged on outside, oblivious, uncaring to the story unfolding within those cold stone walls. Loud, brave badgerkin voices rallied on. But now, they came laced with an undeniable fear, panic, fighting as hard as they could for supremacy against the harrowing, loudening drone of the undead hordes pressing ever onwards through the village.
"I greet the reaper with open arms."
Daxten squeezed Blake's arm, tingeing chainmail with red.
"I will watch over you... Always."
He took a slow breath.
Gentle.
He exhaled.
Peaceful.
Silence followed.
Daxten went limp in his brother's arms, looking up at him with still, lightless eyes.
Blake held him tighter, closer, rocking him softly.
"Dax?"
He shook him again, harder.
"Daxten!?"
His mouth fell open. Tears formed.
Blake collapsed and folded around his little brother, embracing him, starting to sob.
Sad, slow violins began to weep a mournful tune. The camera pulled away, abandoning these brother badgers within this deserted home, and leaving Blake to face their war-torn fantasy homeland alone.
Tomas couldn't hold back any longer. He threw his snout into his paws and began sobbing so hard that I started bouncing around his lap. Before my impromptu ride, my attention had been shifting back and forth between him and the TV throughout that entire scene. I knew my bigger badger would take it hard if one of these 'badgerkin' knights ended up dying. Exactly how hard, I'd massively underestimated.
"Oh, not Dax." Tomas grabbed me mid-spring, snatching me up from my seat and heaving me up into his chest. "Gods..."
"It's-" My reply got cut short, pressed out of me in the form of a heavy huff as Tomas wrapped both paws around and squeezed the whole of my body tight, hugging like... I was some kind of emotional support badger. It left me struggling against his chubby chest and stomach, stuck fast within a soft yet inescapable hold.
"And poor Blake." Tomas' whimpering got harder. Enough that I'd started to feel it.
With his grey StarQuest t-shirt so close that my snout had started crumpling up against the fabric, I couldn't see his tears starting to stream. Not until they'd begun to patter down around me.
"Come on, don't be sad." I rubbed and kneaded the biggest circles I could manage into him. The tears kept falling regardless, dampening his shirt like raindrops. "It's fine. Blake'll be okay. He's tough, and... it's just a TV show."
"I know that, Jiri, but..." He sniffed and sighed while his constricting cuddles continued. "I really like those two."
"Ack..." I tried to look around at the TV. Not a chance with Tomas' paws locked around me. If it'd been anyone but my boyfriend holding me like that, oh man, I'd have been far less laid back about things. "Well, Blake's still around, and I bet he'll be picking up and swinging that hammer of his again in no time."
Tomas less replied, more muttered and mumbled a sorrowful tune. It seemed he'd stopped really listening, his vice-like grip keeping me with a face full of my sweet, soft... sometimes _too_soft badger. Still, as soft as he was, a big badger he'd always be.
His finger shifted, clamping and pressing my arm into his chest, driving a grunt from between my firmly set teeth. Meanwhile, the pressure from his other paw made moving my hips or knees near impossible, burying them deeper and deeper into my personal divot within his warm, doughy stomach.
It didn't hurt, not at all. There was a moment or two of discomfort, sure, but nothing like enough to tell Tomas and upset him even more. Besides, I didn't have it anywhere near as bad as a certain badger knight roaring out in rage on TV.
"Hey, look, see?" I pressed and squirmed against him. Nothing gave, of course. "There he goes! Sounds like Blake's about to smash some skellie skulls."
Tomas huffed, lifting his glasses to wipe his reddening eyes. His other paw kept me secure within his affection. "Good."
"Yeah..." Once again, I tried to turn. With my upper body free, I could at least see the glow of the screen in the corner of my eye.
Heavy drum beats replaced the sad violins; the foundation for a tune far more intense.
The barging and breaking open of a wooden door came next.
Thumping stomps across mud followed.
Blake's guttural growls rumbled through our living room.
They gave way to the solid clobbering of his battle hammer into flesh and bone alike.
"...And I'm missing it."
"He's not happy," Tomas said with a sniffle. "I don't blame him- Oh! He's wearing Dax's headband. I didn't see him put it on."
"Neither did I." I beat my paws against his chest, but he remained mesmerised by the scene unfolding behind me. "Can you ease up a little? I wanna see... Plus, I'm gonna need you to let me go to bed soon. Gotta make sure I get to work early on my first day."
"It's nearly finished." Tomas brightened into a smile. His other paw returned, cuddling up with me all over again. "Come on, Blake, get those zombies."
"Tom-ah!" I sank even deeper into his t-shirt and his sweet-scented softness, smothered and surrounded by his bulk and paws. It proved difficult to grunt my words past it all. "This is the opposite of ease up."
My complaints fell on deaf ears. Not a chance was I gonna steal any more of Tomas' attention away from Blake's adventures.
"Bah... Remind me to sit _next_to you on the couch next episode."
With that, I had no choice but to face facts. My only option was to spread my arms and resign myself to staying so utterly trapped a little while longer, helpless to do anything but relax and rest within his cosy warmth. And, truthfully, I didn't really need to watch that big badger knight swinging his hammer and shield around. Not when I had a big badger of my own to rub and to nose against.
As for that 'Torchbearer' show, the new show that Tomas had wanted so much for me to start watching with him Sunday nights... Well, I figured I could enjoy the ending of that episode on a rerun sometime. Something that I couldn't do with Tomas' satisfyingly smothering hugs.